


.more than okay

by AkaToMidori



Series: Okay [2]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22351945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaToMidori/pseuds/AkaToMidori
Summary: Aiba sighed. When he saw that his friend had turned to look at him, he smiled and took a sip of his beer.“What is it?” Sho asked, a bit concerned.“Nothing,” Aiba said, forcing a smile. “I’m just tired, that’s it.”“You’re not still thinking about yesterday? About Matsumoto?”
Relationships: Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho
Series: Okay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607941
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: Sakuraiba Tanabata 2019-2020





	.more than okay

**Author's Note:**

> _Jan 21_  
>  Prompt: “I think I’m in love with you and that scares me half to death.”

Aiba would come to his apartment every night after he closed down his restaurant, bringing him dinner. Sho would always be working, but he’d always make an exception for Aiba, and after their meal – which was, more often than not, _karaage_ or other leftovers from Aiba’s place – they would watch some sports or a movie while drinking beer together.

Usually, Aiba would leave after 2 a.m. to get back to his apartment, which was very close to his. Sometimes, he would be too drunk to move from the couch, so Sho let him sleep there as he would catch up with his reading, stealing a glance or two here and there at his cute sleeping face.

That night, though, things went kind of differently.

They had started watching a movie sprawled on the couch while drinking beer, but somehow, blame it on the boring story, blame it on the poor acting, or blame it on the fact that Aiba was sitting closer than usual, Sho just couldn’t pay attention to anything that was going on on the screen.

“Sho-chan,” Aiba yawned after two hours of Sho trying to will his heart into slowing down to no avail.

“Y—yes?” He cleared his voice. “Yes?” he repeated. God, did he have to be that uncool?

Aiba elbowed him in the kidneys. “The movie has ended for a while already,” he said with a giggle.

Sho groaned at the pain in his side and turned around. The screen was displaying the closing credits. His fingers fumbled a little with the remote while trying to turn off the TV.

Aiba sighed. When he saw that his friend had turned to look at him, he smiled and took a sip of his beer.

“What is it?” Sho asked, a bit concerned.

“Nothing,” Aiba said, forcing a smile. “I’m just tired, that’s it.”

“You’re not still thinking about yesterday? About Matsumoto?”

Aiba didn’t reply. He crushed his can and got another one from the coffee table in front of them. “Cold beer really is great even in winter, isn’t it?” he chuckled.

Sho crossed his arms as he watched Aiba open his new can of beer. Of course he was still thinking of Matsumoto. He was probably still in love with him, and why wouldn’t he? He was tall, slender, and dashingly handsome, so much so that their friends used to call him and Aiba ‘the model pair’ when they got together.

But Matsumoto wasn’t just a pretty face. He was also hardworking, responsible, and assertive. And their field of work was also the same, so there was that. If it weren’t for the fact that he was an asshole who cheated on Aiba, and for the fact that Sho himself was in love with his friend, he probably would have liked them together.

He still remembered the dreamy expression in his friend’s eyes when he talked about his boyfriend, and his heart still ached at the memory of their nightly conversations – or rather, Aiba’s monologues – about “Jun maybe being _the one_.”

Sho nibbled nervously at the inside of his mouth. Matsumoto was everything he imagined Aiba looked for in a partner. They really would have been perfect together. He had no illusions about himself.

“You know, Sho-chan,” Aiba’s voice brought him back to planet Earth. “Being with you… it makes me happy.”

Sho was sure his heart skipped a beat. It was almost like his friend had read his thoughts. He gulped some beer down to calm his nerves. “Being drunk makes you even sappier than usual, Aiba-kun.”

“I’m not drunk,” Aiba said, staring at him.

Sho looked back at him. His friend’s eyes seemed clear and focused. He really wasn’t drunk. Sho blushed a little. “That’s even worse,” he said with a sarcastic laugh.

“Ne, Sho-chan…” Aiba fidgeted nervously with the necklace that was hanging from his neck. “I have something to tell you, but I’m not sure if I should.”

“I love you,” Sho blurted out without thinking.

“W—what!?” Aiba’s eyes widened in shock.

Sho slapped his hands on his mouth in horror. Normally, he would be able to save the situation with some sort of twisty logic. This time, he didn’t know if it was the beer, or maybe the fact that Aiba had just reached out to touch his leg and the contact was like electricity to him, but he couldn’t think of anything better than to stand up frantically and run to his bedroom, closing the door behind him and falling on the floor with his back on it.

“Sho—” Aiba’s voice from the hall sounded surprised but also quite amused.

Sho looked around, considering his options. He lived on the 4th floor so probably the window would be a bad idea, unless he thought death was the only way out. But then again, he was barely 29, and he had been waiting so long for the last _A Song of Ice and Fire_ book to finally come out, and he really, really didn’t want to die before reading it. He was debating whether to just dash out of the room and take advantage of the surprise effect to sprint for the door before Aiba could react, when he heard a loud laugh coming from his friend outside.

Sho whimpered silently. “Please stop laughing!” He punched the door behind him and winced.

Aiba stopped laughing for a second. “Did you just hit the door and end up hurting yourself?” he asked, teasingly.

Sho massaged his hand. “Shut up!”

He heard Aiba sit on the floor, his back against the other side of the door. They stayed silent for a while, with Sho still massaging his hand, and Aiba shifting his position every once in a while.

“That wasn’t nice of you,” Sho said after a few minutes, resentment in his voice.

Aiba tapped on the door. “Sorry,” he said. “I was just surprised.”

Sho buried his face in his hands. _‘Of course he would be surprised.’_ he thought. _‘Of course he would laugh. Your supposedly straight best friend tells you he loves you after twenty years… you’re bound to be surprised, right? And he laughed because… well, because it’s me. I’m no Matsumoto perfect-smile-and-perfect-ass Jun.’_ Sho sighed. He should have known it would end this way. Aiba was way out of his league.

“Listen, just forget it,” he said, irritated. “I’m a bit drunk and I’m just lonely, and you feed me every day, so I guess I just confused my being grateful for something else.”

“Are you saying you’re taking back your confession?”

Sho scoffed. “It wasn’t a confession.”

“Well in that case…” Aiba rested his head on the door. “Do you want to hear what I wanted to say before you blurted out your confession that wasn’t a confession?”

Sho rolled his eyes. Was he going to start blabbing about Matsumoto now? “Be my guest.”

“I love you,” he simply said.

Sho’s breathing stopped. Did he say I love _you_ or I love _Jun_? “What?” he asked, checking that he had heard correctly.

Aiba giggled a little. “I love you too, Sho-chan. Oh, but I guess I shouldn’t say ‘too’ since you said it wasn’t a confe—”

Sho had stood up and opened the door suddenly, and Aiba, who was still leaning against it, fell backwards and hit his head on the floor with a loud thump.

“Ouch!” Aiba cried out. His hands went to the back of his head to rub it.

“What do you mean you love me too?” Sho asked, moving so he was towering over Aiba’s face.

Aiba sat up, still massaging his head with one hand, while he used the other to pull him down, making him fall on his lap.

“What are you doing?” Sho protested.

For all the confidence he was displaying, Aiba’s smile was shy when he looked at him. “I think I’m in love with you and that scares me half to death,” he whispered. “Except in the ways that it doesn’t. Not really.”

“Aiba...”

His friend took his hand in his and gently caressed it. Sho’s look wandered around embarrassed before finding the courage to look into his eyes. Aiba’s gaze was warm and inviting, and the little crow’s feet around his eyes made them even more beautiful. He saw the glint in Aiba’s look when his gaze started to wander to his lips, and he felt nervous all of a sudden.

“It’s late,” Aiba said, uncertain. “Maybe I should get home now?” He asked, looking at him and waiting for a reply.

Sho gulped. His best friend’s lips were only a few centimeters from his now. His heart was threatening to burst out of his chest, and the warm feeling in his stomach was making him feel giddy. This was it. This was the moment he’d been waiting for his whole life.

“Maybe you could stay?”

Aiba leaned in, and for a second time stopped.

“I’d love to,” he whispered. “If it’s really okay.”

Sho tried to speak, but he couldn’t, and the last thought he had before his head went blank from the kiss in mere seconds was that, of course it was okay. It was more than okay.


End file.
